Hooking Live Spot

A good way to hook live spot is to put the hook through it's mouth and out
up between it's nostrils, as shown on the photo to the right. Don't use too large a hook
so as not to cause much damage to the Spot. Hooked this way the Spot will stay alive for
a couple of hours, unless a striper finds it.

About Spot Baitfish

Spot are members of the family, Sciaenidae, and are known for the croaking or
drumming sound they produce by resonating their large swim bladder. Spot occur along the Atlantic
coast in estuarine and coastal waters from the Gulf of Maine to Florida; however they are most
abundant from Chesapeake Bay south to South Carolina. They have been collected from the mainstream
and all tributaries of Chesapeake Bay and have one of the most extensive distribution of any
marine-estuarine fishes in the Bay. Spot are considered to be one of the major regulators of bottom
invertebrate communities in the muddy, shallow zones of the Bay. They are also an important food
source for other fish species including striped bass, bluefish, weakfish, shark and flounder.

Spot migrate seasonally, entering bays and estuaries in the spring, where they remain
until late summer or fall when they move off shore. They mature between ages 2 and 3 at lengths of
seven to eight inches with females producing at least 70,000 to 90,000 eggs. Their maximum life span
is five years, although fish over three years are uncommon. Spawning occurs in offshore coastal
waters in late fall to early spring. After spawning, adults may remain offshore, whereas larval spot
will enter the Bay as early as December and appear in nursery areas in April and May. Primary
nursery areas for juvenile spot occur in low salinity areas of the bays and tidal creeks, but they
can also be found associated with eel grass communities. Young spot grow rapidly over the summer
months, and by fall reach an average length of five inches. Adult and juvenile spot are most
abundant in the Bay from April to October. As water temperatures decrease in the fall, most juveniles
move to the ocean by December, but some may overwinter in deeper waters of the Bay.

The above information is from the Maryland Department of Natural
Resources Fisheries Service.

Catching Spot Baitfish with a Cast Net

To see photos of catching spot baitfish by throwing a cast net follow this Link: Cast Net